This application claims the benefit of the Korean Application No. P2001-56492 filed on Sep. 13, 2001, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film deposition apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for depositing a thin film used in fabricating a display panel.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a thin film deposition apparatus used for the fabrication of a display panel enables to deposit a demanded material on a panel uniformly. And, there are various types of such apparatuses.
Specifically, in case of an organic EL(electroluminescent) display panel, when an organic layer is deposited on a panel, a thermal sublimation type thin film deposition apparatus is used. In this case, the thin film deposition apparatus is one of crucible, boat, and basket types, etc. Yet, such thin film deposition apparatuses have small capacities so as not to be suitable for the fabrication of large-sized organic EL display panels.
In order to overcome such a problem, a linear type thin film deposition apparatus having the same size of a width of a large-sized display panel has been developed.
The linear type thin film deposition apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a deposition source 10 having a long body, a groove 11 formed inside the deposition source 10, and a heater(not shown in the drawing) built inside or outside the deposition source 10. Moreover, the groove 11 is filed with a deposition material to be deposited on a panel.
When the above-constituted linear type thin film deposition apparatus is used, as shown in FIG. 2, the deposition source 10 is arranged under a panel 1 so as to leave a predetermined interval from the panel 1 and a current is applied to the heater. The deposition material filing the groove 11 is then sublimated by heat generated from the heater so as to be deposited on a surface of the panel 1. And, the deposition source 10 moves along a scan direction so as to deposit the deposition material on an entire surface of the panel 1.
The thin film deposition apparatus according to the related art has a fast deposition rate and enables to load a large capacity of the deposition material so as to be advantageous for mass production. Yet, the deposition thickness of the thin film deposited on the panel fails to be uniform. For instance, a thickness of a thin film 2 formed in a scan direction of the panel 1, as shown in FIG. 2, is uniform but the other thickness of the thin film 2 formed in a length direction of the panel 1 is not uniform.
The thickness of the thin film deposited on the panel is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2 but may differ in each position of the panel according to the structure and characteristics of the thin film deposition apparatus.
The irregularity of the thin film deposited by the thin film deposition apparatus according to the related art increases as a size of a panel to be fabricated increases.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for depositing a thin film that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for depositing a thin film enabling to form a large-sized thin film uniformly.
Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, in a thin film deposition apparatus for depositing a thin film on a display panel, an apparatus for depositing the thin film according to the present invention includes a deposition source having a groove in one surface wherein the groove is filed with a thin film material to be deposited on the panel, a heater applying heat to the deposition source so as to sublimate the thin film material, and a mask loaded on the deposition source so as to cover the groove of the deposition source, the mask having a plurality of holes to adjust a deposition quantity of the thin film material deposited on the panel.
Preferably, the heater is installed inside or outside the deposition source.
Preferably, a shape of the mask is equivalent to that of the groove of the deposition source.
Preferably, each of the holes has a pattern selected from the group consisting of circle, triangle, rectangle, and polygon.
Preferably, a number and a distribution of the holes formed on the mask depend on the sublimated quantity of the thin film material
Preferably, the holes of the mask are distributed so as to be concentrated on a central portion of the mask rather than an edge portion of the mask in a gradient manner from the central portion to the edge portion.
Preferably, the holes of the mask are distributed so as to be concentrated on an edge portion of the mask rather than a central portion of the mask in a gradient manner from the edge portion to the central portion.
Preferably, the holes of the mask are distributed so as to be concentrated on one edge portion of the mask rather than the other edge portion of the mask in a gradient manner from one edge portion to the other edge portion.
Preferably, the holes of the mask are arranged regularly.
More preferably, the holes of the mask are equal to each other in size and have different intervals from each other.
More preferably, the holes of the mask are different from each other in size and have different intervals from each other.
Preferably, the mask is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater or an additional heater.
In another aspect of the present invention, in a thin film deposition apparatus for depositing a thin film on a display panel, an apparatus for depositing the thin film includes a deposition source having a groove in one surface wherein the groove is filed with a thin film material to be deposited on the panel, a first heater applying heat to the deposition source so as to sublimate the thin film material, a mask loaded on the deposition source so as to cover the groove of the deposition source, the mask having a plurality of holes to adjust a deposition quantity of the thin film material deposited on the panel, and a second heater applying heat to the mask so that the sublimated thin film material fails to adhere to the mask.
Preferably, the first heater is installed inside or outside the deposition source and the second heater is installed inside or outside the mask.
Preferably, each of the holes has a pattern selected from the group consisting of circle, triangle, rectangle, and polygon.
Preferably, a number and a distribution of the holes formed on the mask depend on the sublimated quantity of the thin film material.
Preferably, the holes of the mask are arranged regularly.
More preferably, the holes of the mask are equal to each other in size and have different intervals from each other.
More preferably, the holes of the mask are different from each other in size and have different intervals from each other.
In a further aspect of the present invention, in a thin film deposition apparatus for depositing a thin film on a display panel, an apparatus for depositing the thin film includes a deposition source having a groove in one surface wherein the groove is filed with a thin film material to be deposited on the panel, a mask loaded on the deposition source so as to cover the groove of the deposition source, and a mask heater loaded on the deposition source so as to cover the groove of the deposition source, the mask heater having a plurality of holes to adjust a deposition quantity of the thin film material deposited on the panel, the mask heater applying heat to the deposition source so as to sublimate the thin film material.
Preferably, the mask heater is formed Ni or W.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.